Another World
by TeylaFan
Summary: Alternate Universe, with John and Teyla being the main characters. John lives in the pegasus galaxy as well, and he meets Teyla on one day, though not in very good condition. Romance eventually.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own none of the Stargate franchise._

_A/N: Well, I came up with this fic yesterday, I thought it would made a good one - or hoped so anyway. I hope those of you that read this enjoy, and like this fic as well! :) Thanks! _

_Special thanks to: Shanna - for the beta :D_

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**-Another World-**

Commander John Sheppard was walking down the hallway of the city, on his way to the Control room. His team would head out to an unfamiliar planet, seeking for more trading alliances.

During their last trading mission the leader told them of this planet, one with useful herbs, and tasteful vegetables. Their city was among the highly advanced planets of this galaxy, a strong army to protect themselves – and other planets when necessary, 3 hospitals to take care of the injured or sick. And scientist to come up with newer, more advanced weapons every week.

They had plenty of food as well, but they were no farmers, their food contained the necessary vitamins and proteins – but it was anything but fresh and tasteful. That was why they had several trading alliances where they got food from, good food. In return they would offer either medical support, technology or they would help train their people to make their army stronger. Whichever they preferred.

He arrived in the control room early, most of his team not even present yet. A few were though, chatting with each other about either guns, or anything that was related to them – or women. The subject of their conversation seemed to be about guns this time, about the latest weapon the scientists had made – apparently a very impressive one.

They greeted him with a sloppy salute, respectful – and friendly. He got along with them well enough, they were good men – good soldiers. It had been a tad bit difficult in the beginning, finding that balance between superior, but equal as well. Even though he was the leader of their team, he respected their opinion and always listened to them. That was probably why he'd been the one to get this job. Some of the men in his team were just as experienced, maybe even more so.

He was happy with his life, a good job – nice friends, and he'd just moved to a new house. A bigger and more expensive one, but he could afford it now.

All that was missing was a wife. He'd had plenty of girlfriends, just not one he would want to spend the rest of his life with.

The last of his men arrived at the Gate, his team now complete and ready to head out. The address was dialed, and a wormhole formed and stabilised. He was the first to step through, weapon raised just as a precaution. Their arrival was expected there, but the planet was still unfamiliar to them.

As he stepped on the planet for the first time, he looked around, taking in his surroundings. There were a lot of trees, and fields where they harvested their food. The village was about a kilometre away, but he could tell that there was something amiss right away.

The only sounds here were of the birds, no children playing in the trees, or people working on the fields. It was harvesting season on most planets, so he would expect people to be working at this time of day. His men either came to the same conclusion, or noticed his change in behaviour – because they were alert and their weapons were ready to take a shot if necessary. No longer just a precaution.

He signalled his men to head out, heading to the village at a jog. They had been a team for so long; everyone knew which position to take. He took point, as he always did.

They travelled the distance from the gate to the village in to time, slowing down as they got closer. They recognised the signs immediately, smoke coming from burned down huts, people lying on the ground – either died from their injuries, or because their life had been drained away. It had been culled – no longer than a few hours back. John silently cursed the race responsible for this, causing so much destruction everywhere they went.

If only they had been here 4 hours ago – they would have been able to save a few. But as his training taught him, he couldn't change the past – only hope to do good in the present.

"Spread out, look for survivors," he told his team. They did as he asked, all heading a different direction, but still staying close together. He prayed that they would find a few survivors – that they hadn't come here just to witness the death and destruction the Wraith had left.

He started toward a few huts that still stood, and kept his gaze focused on where he was walking, instead of the ground, where children lay – their lives taken away from them. There weren't that many, most of the inhabitants probably taken by darts. Slowly pushing the door open, he stepped into one of the houses, looking for someone who had gotten away, maybe a child hiding under the bed.

He searched through the whole place, finding nothing. It was no different in the other huts he searched, all empty except for materials.

That was all of them; he'd searched through 5 huts – his men doing the same with the remaining ones. Walking towards the centre of the village, he saw something - an arm sticking out from under a fallen tree, its leaves and branches hiding the rest of the body. Hopeful, he walked towards it, and crouched down. Reaching out, he carefully pressed his fingers against the wrist, holding his breath in anticipation and hope.

The thud against his fingers was so unexpected – he didn't realise it at first, but there it was again, a sign of life. He started pushing things out of the way – broken branches keeping him from getting him or her out from under the tree. Yelling for help, he waited for a few of the soldiers to reach him. With 4 men, they managed to lift the tree, another soldier pulling the person to safety.

It was a young woman, unconscious and injured. She was curled up around a little boy – trying to shield him from the tree that had fallen atop them. But the boy's heart did not beat, never would again. John mourned for the loss of a child so young – yet he was so relieved to find a survivor. They had to get medical attention for her quickly, before she too died of her injuries.

A soldier at the end of the village started yelling. They had found another survivor – an elderly man, in bad shape. He asked the other soldiers of they had searched everywhere – making sure there was no change that they could have missed someone. They were certain; these two were the only survivors of the culling.

The other two soldiers came walking towards them, one carrying the old man. John carefully did the same with the young woman, lifting her in his arms. She didn't respond at all to the movement, her eyes stayed shut and her body limp. He started walking towards the gate at a brisk pace – wanting to get her to a doctor as quickly as possible. His men were still on alert – making sure that nothing would be able to catch them off guard. He was proud of them, for still focusing – after seeing one of the most terrible things possible. When they would reach the base, they were probably going to have to talk to the psychiatrist, a friendly woman – about 40 years old. She was kind enough, but he just didn't care very much for shrinks.

His second in command dialled the gate, and stepped through first. He went in second with the other soldier carrying the old man, the rest of the team following.

They stepped into the control room, back home again. A medical post was stationed nearby – in case there were trauma patients coming through the gate in need of medical attention right away. The called the Infirmary, asking for a team to stand by. As he walked to the infirmary, he glanced down at the woman, taking a good look for the first time. She had beautiful tanned skin, and her face was gorgeous as well. He could tell that even though she looked a mess – cuts covering her face, and dirt from the tree. He wondered what her name was – nothing that he could come up with suited her.

Just outside of the infirmary doors – nurses were standing ready with stretchers. Almost reluctantly – he laid her down on it, releasing her. She was taking away immediately; he lingered outside for a moment longer, until his second in command called for him. It was time to explain what happened to his superiors, and after that he could go back; he needed to be checked by a nurse anyway, as protocol dictated.

John hoped that she would be ok, at least physically. He would check up on her later, after his own exam. Maybe she'd be awake by then, he hoped so.

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TBC . . .


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own none of the Stargate franchise..._

_A/N: My apologies for the delay... I've been very lazily enjoying my vacation, before work and college starts again. I'll try to update sooner next time though! My thanks to all of the sweet reviewers from Chapter 1, and I hope that this one does not disappoint._

_Also a big thank you to **Gater**, who did an excellent job beta-ing for me. hugs_

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**-Chapter 2-**

--

John tried to give his report of the mission as detailed and quick as he could – just so that he could go back to the infirmary again. He supposed that if there were any serious complications he or his commander would have been radioed. But he couldn't help but worry.

It seemed that Ms. Baker understood him, reading his behaviour correctly. She didn't ask any more questions than necessary, simply letting him tell his story and from time to time she asked a simple question, to clear up a few hazy areas in the report.

She dismissed him, and asked to have his mission report on her desk in two days, which gave him more time, since he usually only got one day. He thanked her gratefully, and left the office as calmly as possible, resisting the urge to run through the corridors.

The trip to the infirmary was only about two minutes when he took the transporters instead of walking through the many corridors and it normally didn't bother him but it seemed to him that he was getting no closer to the infirmary, despite the haste with which he walked.

His teammates were patiently sitting in the waiting room, until it was time for their check up. They nodded at him when he walked in, their faces showing that they hadn't forgotten about the mission yet. He doubted that they ever would really; it was something that lingered in the mind of a soldier, that haunted their dreams at night. John knew.

He could still remember the unpleasant missions from years back, when he was still a rookie and they still plagued his sleeping hours with their images.

"Any news yet?" he asked Conway – his second in command, and a good friend.

Conway shook his head sadly. "No, sir. Docs are still working on them," he answered. "Maybe you could get some information . . . ask that nurse that has the crush on you," he suggested, winking at him.

He shook his head, smiling slightly. "I don't think so Conway, we'll just have to wait and see."

Just as the words left his mouth, the doctor who had been working on the elderly man stepped out. He nodded at him, and then John's team. "Well, he's stable at the moment. He woke up a couple of minutes ago, told us his name is Jonas," he said. "You could go in now and talk to him if you like," he offered John.

John nodded willingly. "Thanks Doc, I'll make it short," he replied, following him to where Jonas' bed was.

They got to the intensive care ward and the doctor pulled aside a curtain, revealing the old man to him. His eyes were open, and he was staring at the curtain by his feet blankly.

John cleared his throat softly, catching the man's attention. "Sir, my name is Commander John Sheppard – do you remember my name?"

Jonas nodded weakly. "Yes, you were coming to our planet seeking trading partners," he replied slowly. "Are there any more survivors?"

John swallowed. "Yes sir. We found you and a young woman in the village, though there was nothing we could do for the rest of your people, I'm sorry," he replied sympathetically.

Jonas closed his eyes, perhaps holding back tears of grief. After taking a moment to himself, he opened them again, looking up at John with eyes filled with hurt and sadness. "The woman . . . How does she look?" he asked John.

"Err . . . well; I'd say she's in her twenties. She has tanned skin – brown hair . . . pretty face," he paused, trying to think of how else to describe her. "Petite . . ."

Jonas interrupted him. "It has to be Teyla, the leader of our people," he said with confidence. "Is she unharmed?"

John shrugged. "I don't know much about her condition at the moment, but she was in pretty bad shape when we found her," he answered. "Would you like me to call the doc? She'll be able to tell you a lot more," he offered, looking over his shoulder to see where the doctor was.

Jonas' nod went unseen by John, so when John turned back Jonas nodded again. "Yes, please."

The doc was close by, and John waved him over. "Hey doc, Jonas asked how Teyla – that's the name of the woman – is doing," he told him, hoping to get some answers.

The doctor nodded, walking towards his desk and got Teyla's chart. "Well, she has a serious head injury – and has yet to wake up. It might be a while before she does, but we are hopeful since her brain is still active. We call it a coma – meaning that she is unconscious, and is not responding to her surroundings," he paused, making sure that Jonas understood everything. "She has a broken wrist, and various bruises, but nothing that will decrease the chances of her waking up."

Jonas nodded. "How long can it take for her to wake?"

"Well, if her brain doesn't start to swell any more because of the concussion – then I would say it could take up to two weeks."

John breathed a sigh of relief – the doctor seemed confident that she would wake up. He stepped away from the bed silently as the doctor told Jonas to rest for a while. The old man nodded tiredly, resting back against several pillows lying on the bed.

Walking back towards the waiting room, John caught a glimpse of Teyla. She was in a secluded part of the infirmary, hooked up to numerous machines, all of which were beeping in a different rhythm.

A nurse was standing by her bedside, writing something down.

He was tempted to move closer to the partition to take a good look, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed. Plus, he'd just be in the way.

Tearing his gaze away, he continued his walk to the waiting room, settling in a chair beside Conway, and waited for his check-up.

--

It didn't take long; after some minutes a team of nurses came to check them all over. Hopping on one of the beds, he pouted when he saw the nurse reach for the needle. He'd never liked those very much.

Looking everywhere but the needle ready to plunge into his arm, his eyes found the corner of the room where Teyla was. She was alone this time, and the partition was drawn though he knew that if anything would happen the machines would alert the personnel on duty right away.

The nurse followed his eyes and smiled. "So," she said, getting his attention. "You must be glad to have found a survivor," she said, pressing a small cotton wool against his vein.

John nodded. "Yeah, definitely. It's the worst when all you find is bodies, and there's nothing you can do anymore," he replied.

The nurse nodded, looking to the floor. She finished with the rest of his exam quickly, and walked off to check his blood work.

Conway's exam was done as well, who didn't look too happy at the nurse walking off with his blood work either. John laughed at him, happy that he wasn't the only one who hated check ups. "C'mon, let's get something to eat," he suggested, his smiled widening when Conway nodded eagerly.

--

"So, how are the two patients doing?" Conway asked, as they exited the transporter.

John told him everything the doctor had told him, his eyes falling slightly as he spoke of Teyla. Conway noticed the look, and raised a questioning eyebrow at him when he looked at him again.

Ignoring him, he kept on walking, and started another conversation.

Conway snorted at the not-so-subtle change of subject, but answered him anyway, jogging to fall into step next to him again.

He'd have to ask his CO about that later then, 'cause he sure hadn't seen that look before…

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TBC . . .


End file.
